05 November 2009
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About town |
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• Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire and is 32 miles north-east of Bristol, 45 miles south-south-west of Birmingham.
• Gloucester was founded in AD48 by the Romans as Glevum, and was granted its first charter in 1155 by King Henry II.
• The city is the 53rd largest settlement in the UK by population. In 2001, it had a population of 123,205. However, according to the 2001 Census, the Gloucester urban area had a population of 136,203.
• Gloucester has a long history in the aerospace business. In 1926, the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company at Brockworth changed its name to the Gloster Aircraft Company because international customers claimed that the name Gloucestershire was too difficult to spell.
• In July 2007, Gloucester was hit badly by a flood that struck Gloucestershire and its surrounding areas. Hundreds of homes were flooded, around 40,000 people were without power for 24 hours, and the entire city and surrounding areas were without mains water for up to 14 days.
• The Three Choirs Festival, originating in the 18th century and one of the oldest music festivals in Europe, is held in Gloucester every third year, the other venues being Hereford and Worcester. Gloucester is due to host the festival in 2010.
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| Go with the MotionFlow |
 HAVING just started to subscribe to Sky+ HD, I was keen to get a bigger TV to enjoy the high-definition content, so I headed to the Sony Centre on Eastgate Street.
Outside the store, I spotted a sign that was advertising a TV trade-in offer. Inside the store, Rich said: “Basically, we’ll take any TV, any make, any model, any size, whether it’s working or not, and we’ll give you money off a new TV.
“The amount we give you depends on what size TV you are interested in buying. If you buy a 26in to 37in, we’ll give you £50; if you go for a 40in, you’ll get £100; if you go for 46in or above, you’ll get £150.
I said a 40in set would be ideal.
Rich asked what devices I currently had connected to the TV and I said Sky+ HD, a DVD player and a Nintendo Wii console.
He then asked me whether I watched sport on TV and I confirmed that I did, when I get the chance.
Rich said: “The reason I ask that is because if you like sport, or documentaries with panning scenes, if you’re budget allows it would be best to go with the Z Series, because it’s got the 200Hz MotionFlow technology.”
He presented the KDL-40Z5500, which was on sale at £1,399.99.
He talked the through DLNA connectivity, explaining that this would give easy wireless access to video, music and photos stored on compatible devices elsewhere in the home.
I told him that I liked the TV and Rich offered me the chance to buy the TV on 12 month’s interest-free credit, for a 10 per cent deposit.
He pointed out that the TV came with a five-year warranty, but he recommended that I consider taking out accidental damage cover, which he said would cost around £100 a year.
“It’s a useful thing to have, particularly as you’ve got a Wii,” Rich said.
Before I left the store, Rich demonstrated Sony’s MotionFlow technology by showing me the same moving image on 50Hz, 100Hz and 200Hz sets. |
| Score: 10 out of 10 |
| Greet but not so good |
 AFTER reading about the UK’s first Blu-ray recorder in ERT recently, I headed to the Comet store on the St Oswalds Retail Park to find out more.
I entered the store and was
immediately greeted by Martin.
I then made my way to the Bluray
area of the store and was
surprised to see that a Panasonic
TV, connected to one of the Bluray
recorders, was switched off.
The TV, a 32in set
(TXL32G10B), priced at £699,
and the Blu- ray recorder
(DMRBS750), also £699, were
part of a display area dedicated
to the new Blu-ray products.
I counted five members of staff
serving customers, while six other
members of staff were wandering
idly around the store.
As I continued to browse, I
also noticed another of the new
Blu-ray recorders from Panasonic.
This more highly specified model
(DMRBS850) was on sale at
£999.99.
According to some point-ofsale,
using a Blu-ray recorder,
consumers can “record from
multi sources in high definition”
and save recordings “in HD on
Blu-ray discs”.
After more than five minutes’
browsing, and with no signs of
any approach, I walked out.
Summary: My visit to Comet
started promisingly with a
greeting from Martin, for which
I have awarded one point. Sadly,
that was as good as it got.
After finding the product I was
interested in, I was ignored by
the six members of staff who
were wandering around the store,
seemingly without a care in the
world. |
| Score: 1 out of 10 |
| Gaz helps put baby in the picture |
 WITH my baby due any time,
I headed to Sight 2 Sound on
Northgate Street to look at
camcorders to capture my
new arrival’s first few years.
Gaz was adjusting the window display, while another member of staff was unpacking a delivery.
After a couple of minutes, Gaz joined me and I explained what I was looking for.
Gaz asked if I wanted to look at a high-definition model and I said that would be ideal.
He first presented a Sony model (HDR-CX105E), which was on sale at £448.99. Gaz said the model had an 8GB internal memory, which could hold around three hours of HD content, but he said that the quality could be reduced to get more recording time. He also said the memory could be expanded if I bought a Memory Stick Duo.
He handed me the Sony model and I said how light it was.
Gaz then handed me a Panasonic model (HDC-TM10), which was on sale at £488.99. He said the Panasonic model also had an 8GB memory, but it had a slightly longer zoom and it had a SD card for expanding its recording time.
I asked Gaz if he would recommend one of the products over the other. “I don’t think you’d be disappointed with either, to be quite honest,” he said, although he did point out that SD cards were a little cheaper than Memory Stick Duos.
Gaz mentioned briefly the new Panasonic Blu-ray recorders.
He said that by connecting the camcorders to the recorder, I could record HD content on to Blu-ray discs. “That’s the first on the market to do that,” he said.
I asked Gaz for some information on the models he had presented and he gave me copies of brochures from Sony and Panasonic.
I thanked him for his help.
Summary: Gaz was friendly and helpful and his product knowledge was good. I have knocked off two points as he did not demonstrate either of the products or attempt to close the sale. |
| Score: 8 out of 10 |
| Rich is ready for HD |
 AFTER moving into my new
flat just outside Gloucester, I wanted to get my hands on Sky+ HD, so headed for the Currys Digital store on Eastgate Street.
I went to the rear of the store
and was greeted by Rich as I made
my way to the Sky display. I picked
up a Sky leaflet and was soon
joined by Rich, who explained:
“There are three different options.
There’s normal Sky, Sky+ and
Sky+ HD.”
He asked whether I had an HDready
TV and I confirmed that I
did.
Rich began his sales pitch by
talking me through the channel
package options.
He explained that I would need
to choose between one and six
‘mixes’.
Packages, he said, started at
£17.50 a month for one mix,
or I could have all six mixes for
£22.50 a month.
“Once you’ve chosen which
package you want to go for,
you then choose if you want any
premium channel, like movies or
sports,” he said.
“If you want everything, it’ll cost
£47.50 a month all in; with the
high-definition costing an extra
£9.75 per month for all 33 of
the high-definition channels. Virgin
and Freesat only have two HD
channels.”
I asked Rich how much it would
cost for me to get a Sky+ HD box
and have a satellite dish installed.
He asked me if I had a
home telephone line and once
I had confirmed that, he said it
would cost £29 to get it up and
running.
He highlighted how good a
deal he had offered me by saying
that an installation would normally
have cost £60 and that the Sky+
HD box was £300 when it first
launched.
Rich then demonstrated
the Sky+ HD interface and he
described the Sky+ functionality
as “the best thing since sliced
bread”.
He showed me how to record
a show and then how to review
something that had already been
recorded. He demonstrated live
pause and rewind, too. He also
mentioned that it was possible to
set a programme to record when
I was not at home by using my
mobile phone.
I asked how quickly I could have
Sky installed and Rich said it could
be done within a week.
I thanked him for his help.
Summary: Rich offered a good
level of product knowledge and
was able to demonstrate Sky+
HD well. I have, however, deducted
one point as he did not close the
sale. |
| Score: 9 out of 10 |
| A little short on details |
 I WAS in desperate need of
a new washing machine, so
I headed to Gillmans on St
Oswalds Road.
After eventually managing to
park my car, as the store’s car park
was heaving, I went inside.
I threaded my way past
workmen’s ladders on my way to
the washing machine area. After
two minutes, a gentleman asked if
I needed any help.
The man asked me if I had a
specific make, spin speed and load
capacity in mind. I told him that my
current machine was a 1,400 spin,
5kg machine.
He asked if I was looking for
a freestanding or built-in model
and I said I was looking for a
freestanding model.
He showed me a 6kg, 1,400
spin machine from Zanussi
(ZWF14070W), which was on
sale at £306. He said the machine was simple to operate, using the
programme dial.
He then showed me a 6kg,
1,600 spin machine from Zanussi
(ZWF16070W), which was priced
at £324.
I asked how much it would cost
to deliver the machine and the man
asked if I lived in a GL postcode
area. I said I did.
“If we arrange a delivery on a
certain day, would you accept it
at anytime during the day?” the
man asked. I said that would be
OK with me.
“There’ll be no charge then,” he
said, “and for £5 we’ll take away
your old machine.”
I thanked him for his help.
Summary: The man was friendly,
but I expected him to talk more
about the products he presented.
I left the store with two products in
mind, but did not really know much
about them to be honest.
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| Score: 4 out of 10 |
| Gerry fails to focus on the sale |
 IN SEARCH of a digital SLR
camera for my forthcoming
trip, I headed for the London
Camera Exchange on
Southgate Street.
Gerry greeted me and I
explained that this would be my
first digital SLR. I asked what I
should be looking for, and what
he could recommend.
He told me that entry-level
models start at around the £500
mark and he said that the new
Nikon D3000 and the Canon
450D “are probably the two most
popular entry-level ones”.
Lifting the Nikon box off the
shelf, Gerry said the D3000 came
with an 18-105mm lens and was
priced at £599, while the Canon
450D was priced at £499.
I asked what the main
differences were between the
Nikon and Canon models.
“There’s not a lot of difference
between them,” he said. Gerry led
me outside the shop to show me
another Canon model that was
part of the window display. The
500D was priced at £599.
“The main differences between
the two Canon models is that
the 500D is a 15 megapixel
camera, while the 450D has 12
megapixels,” he said.
Gerry also mentioned that the
500D has a movie mode, which
turns the camera into a video
camera.
“Movie mode is quite a new
feature on digital SLRs,” Gerry
said.
I asked for some information
and Gerry gave me a copy of the
Nikon D3000 brochure.
Just as I was about to leave,
Ger r y ment ioned tha t the
store was set to run a Canon
promotional week later in the
month, something it did every
year.
He said: “On one of those days,
there’ll be a chap from Canon
here, demonstrating the cameras
and showing them off to their full
potential.
“It’ll probably be the last week
or two of November – there’ll be
lots of promotions on Canon.”
I thanked for him for his help.
Summary: Despite greeting me,
giving me basic product details
and talking about a promotional
week, I felt disappointed that Gerry
did not remove any cameras from
the display cabinets and did not
offer to demonstrate any of the
products he had mentioned.
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| Score: 4 out of 10 |
| ‘Lush’ LG in the running |
 MY DAY in Gloucester
continued with a visit to
the Power Point store in
Hucclecote.
I was on the lookout for a new
washing machine. Inside the store,
a woman greeted me and asked if
I needed any help.
She asked me if I was looking
for a particular make and I said
that, for me, product reliability was
the key purchasing factor.
The woman explained that all
prices quoted in the store included
the cost of delivery, installation and
scrappage of the old appliance.
She said the store’s washing
machines started with a 1,400
spin, 5kg machine from Beko
(WM5140) at £250. She also
highlighted products from Gorenje,
Statesman and Zanussi.
I told her that I liked the look of an LG model (F1222TD). The
1,200 spin, 8kg machine was on
sale at £370.
The woman described the LG
model as being “lush” and she
explained that the 8kg drum could
cope with a double quilt.
I noticed that the machine was
a Direct Drive model.
The lady explained that this
made the machine very quiet
compared with other machines on
the market.
She wrote down product
details for all the machines she
had mentioned and I thanked her
for her help.
Summary: The woman was
friendly and offered basic product
information. She was able to
mention a few features of the LG
machine, but I felt that she could
have helped me more.
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| Score: 2 out of 10 |
| Diane has something better to do |
 ONE THE Eastern Avenue
Retail Park, I noticed a sign
outside the Currys store that
highlighted a 25 per cent
discount on all Dyson vacuum
cleaners.
Keen to find out more, I
headed into the store. After a few
moments, Diane joined me and
asked if I needed any help.
I said that I was looking to buy
a new vacuum cleaner and was
keen to take advantage of any
promotion.
Diane said that the 25 per cent
offer was available to customers
who trade in their old cleaner and
would be reflected in the price of
a new cleaner.
Diane asked me if I preferred
a cylinder or upright cleaner and
I said I thought a cylinder model
would be best.
She showed me three
Dyson cleaners – the DC23T2
(£187.99), the DC23 allergy
(£209.99) and the DC22 Animal
(£209.99).
After showing me the machines,
Diane just walked off.
I decided to follow her example,
and I walked off myself, right out
of the store, rather gobsmacked,
and disappointed.
Summary: Diane explained the
trade-in offer, but was unable
to give any detailed product
information.
After showing me the Dyson
cylinder cleaners, she just
walked off, which left me rather
nonplussed.
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| Score: 1 out of 10 |
| Not crema of the crop |
 AFTER seeing a coffee
machine advertised in one of
my wife’s glossy magazines, I
went to the Debenhams store
on Kings Square to see what
was available.
I climbed the stairs to the
homewares department on the
second floor of the store and was
promptly ignored by a member
of staff.
I began to browse the products
on display and was potentially
interested in two machines – the
Bosch Tassimo at £117 and the
Krups Dolce Gusto, which was displayed on a freestanding pointof-
sale stand, at £127.
After five minutes, a sales
assistant walked towards me,
before turning around and walking
back in the direction she had come
from.
Disappointed at being ignored,
not once, but twice, I left the
store.
Summary: In these difficult times
for retail in the UK, stores can ill
afford to ignore customers. Being
ignored in stores is what I call ‘retail
suicide’ and is a prime example of
bad retail practice.
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| Score: 0 out of 10 |
| No shot at getting served |
 WALKING along The Oxbode,
I was drawn to a poster in
the Jessops shop window
advertising the launch of the
new Canon Powershot G11.
According to the poster, the
camera, on sale at £569, would
come with a cashback offer of
accessory vouchers worth up to
£150.
Keen to find out more, I went
into the shop, which was reasonably
busy, with three members of staff
serving customers and another
two, plus myself, waiting to be
served.
I looked in the display cabinets
for the Powershot G11, but could
not seem to find it.
After waiting to be served for
more than five minutes, the queue
of customers was getting longer
and with no prospect of being
served, I regrettably had to leave
this busy store.
Summary: The store was very
busy. All the staff were tied up
serving customers, while others
patiently browsed as they waited
to be served. I was not able to get
served myself, so I cannot give the
store a score for my visit.
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| Score: 0 out of 10 |
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Summary |
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MY TEAM enjoyed their day visiting Gloucester’s
electrical retailers, although the weather in
Gloucestershire could have been kinder.
They witnessed some excellent examples of
product knowledge, sales skills and customer
service.
While the majority of stores performed well, this
time it was down to Comet, Currys, Jessops and
Debenhams to really let the side down.
I know I am starting to sound like a broken
record, but ignoring customers during a recession
is retail suicide.
That said, there were so many great examples
in Gloucester of what retailing should be about.
Congratulations to Rich and Rich. this is not
some new comedy double act, but the names of
the sales assistants we met in the Sony Centre
and Currys Digital.
The two members of my team who went to the
Sony Centre and Currys Digital said that, based on
their experience in your stores, they would have
had no hesitation in purchasing from you, so well
done. Demonstration is the key to sales and you
guys embraced it. Good job.
I must also give a mention to Gaz at Sight
2 Sound, who did very well, too. This month’s
plaudits go to Rich, Rich and Gaz.
As of September 2009, all those who score
more than seven points will automatically be
entered into the ERT Industry Awards for 2010.
|
Top of the Town |
| Independents |
Multiples |
Winner: |
Sony Centre |
Winner: |
Currys Digital |
Commended: |
Sight 2 Sound |
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PREMIER LEAGUE |
| |
No. of visits |
Total points |
Average per call |
B&O |
2 |
20 |
10 |
Apple |
3 |
25 |
8.3 |
Panasonic Stores |
8 |
58 |
7.3 |
Sony Centres |
21 |
145 |
6.9 |
Independents |
63 |
401 |
6.4 |
Richer Sounds |
10 |
49 |
4.9 |
Currys.Digital |
19 |
75 |
3.9 |
Department Stores |
21 |
65 |
3.1 |
Comet |
20 |
56 |
2.8 |
Jessops |
18 |
43 |
2.4 |
Currys |
18 |
12 |
0.7 |
Marks & Spencer |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Robert Dyas |
1 |
0 |
0 |
PC World |
4 |
0 |
0 |
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